Redemption
by ONExANDxONLYxBABE
Summary: Everything in Steph's life is going wrong and she wants to change that. Who will she turn to? Full summary inside. HEA, Babe story, not Cupcake friendly. SMUT warning.
1. Chapter 1

**Stephanie tries to cope with everything going wrong in her life: Ranger ignoring her and "not wanting her the way she wants him to", or so she thinks Joe cheating on her, her mother nagging her to work at the button factory. She decides to turn to the most unlikely person to help her become the "Stephanie" everyone wants her to be. Who will she turn to?**

You know when you're younger and you do something stupid, like jump off your garage roof and break your leg, and your mom looks at you like you're not her child, and you're just the biggest disappointment? Yeah, that is exactly how my mother is looking at me and exactly how I feel right now. Isn't life grand?

If you're just now tuning in to the Stephanie Plum show, let me give you the rundown of what has happened up to this point in my life.

It all started about a month ago when everything that I thought was part of an okay life went to hell in a hand basket. I had just got back to Morelli's place after spending the entire afternoon chasing skips and getting ridiculed by TPD. I just wanted to crawl into the bath and soak until I shriveled up into nothing. I opened the door only to be greeted with God-awful moaning and other noises I did not even want to begin to decipher.

I bounded up the stairs and stopped outside of the bedroom doors and listened to Morelli moan and groan and he banged some other chick into oblivion. I listened closer and heard him scream, "Fuck, yeah Joyce. You want it harder?". And that was all the incentive I needed to go back to my truck, issued by Rangeman, and grab my gun. Lately, I've had it loaded for some odd reason, but I never thought I would actually use it. I took myself back up the stairs and opened the door, hiding the gun in the waist band of my jeans. I promise you, I stood there for a good five minutes before he noticed me standing there.

"Holy shit, Steph! What the fuck are you doing here?"

"You know, I could ask you the same thing, but I can see it. So I'm just gonna grab my stuff and leave you to fucking the whore of city. Oh, and Morelli, I think we should break up. And I hope you have a nice life with a bullet in your ass."

"Cupcake? What are you talking about?"

I pulled the gun from my jeans, aimed, and fired, hitting my intended target. Morelli's ass. I grabbed what little clothes I had in his closet and left.

I walked back out to my truck, holding back my tears, while dialing 911 for his sake before he bled all over Joyce. What I didn't notice was the tall dark figure leaning against my truck.

"Babe."

I looked up and saw Ranger standing there, the epitome of sex on legs, looking at me like he knew what was going on.

"What the hell do you want Ranger?" I was about to walk around him when he grabbed to back of my shirt and wrapped his arms around, tightly. As if to tell me something he just couldn't say. The minute his arms encased around me, I lost it. I cried my eyes out until I was just whimpering. But these weren't tears of sadness. God no, these were tears of me being pissed off for years, finally spilling and taking over.

"Babe, come on. Let's get you home." He pulled me to his truck when reality hit me hard and just pissed me off even more.

"Fuck! I can't go home because I have no home to go to. I sold my apartment last week. I sure as hell don't want to go and stay with my parents. I'd shoot _myself_ in the ass before I went to live with my parents again."

"Don't shoot yourself in the ass. I like your ass. And you can come stay with me in my apartment." I thought about it and realized I had no other choice.

"Fine. But the minute you get tired of me, I'll find another place to stay."

"Babe, trust me. That'll never happen."

So off we went to Haywood. I never once looked at Ranger on the ride there. I just reveled in the silence the enveloped the car. I never noticed when we pulled into the garage, or when Ranger carried me up to the apartment. When he set me down on the couch I stepped out of my little world only to see Ranger looking at me with concern in his eyes.

"Don't worry about me, Batman. I'll start looking for a place tomorrow so I can be out of your hair sooner."

"That won't be necessary. You are to stay here. For as long as you need to." His phone started going off before he could continue.

"Go save the world Batman. I'm just going to go to bed for the night. Go do what you need to do." I started looking around for extra pillows and covers when Ranger said,

"You're sleeping in my bed, Babe. Nowhere else." I felt heat rush everywhere in my body at once. Only Ranger can be so nice and sexual at the same time and actually pull it off.

He answered his phone and walked into the other room for privacy. I shrugged my shoulders and walked into the bedroom. It was then that I realized that I left most of my stuff at Morelli's. I had no clothes, make up, hair products. Nothing. I didn't want to ask Ranger for money so I was just going to borrow one of his shirts till I can go shopping tomorrow.

I walked in the closet and stopped dead in my tracks when I flipped the lights on. All of Ranger's clothes had been moved to one side of the closet, only to be replaced by female's clothes that just happened to be my size, on the other side.

"I had Ella go shopping for you about a week ago. All of this was supposed to be for your birthday, but you need it now. I called for her to bring it up on our way here."

I was astonished at the amount of clothes that were here. This must have cost a lot of money.

"Nothing could ever cost too much when it comes to you Babe."

I must've said that out loud. Ranger gave me one of his famous 200-watt smiles only to confirm my suspicion.

"I'm going to be on the couch tonight. Tomorrow I leave for a mission and I don't know how long I'll be gone. If you need something, call Tank and he'll help you." With his blank face on, he walked out of the room and to the living room, not speaking to me the rest of the night. I knew I was never good enough for Ranger to ever sleep with me again.

Damn. I was really hoping to sleep next that man tonight without Joe on my mind. The Gods must not like me very much right now.

RSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRS

The next morning I woke up in an unfamiliar bed with really soft sheets and soft pillows… that's when everything came back quick fast in a heartbeat. I remembered catching Joe with Joyce, Ranger being there, coming back to the apartment, getting an early birthday present, and Ranger telling me he won't be here when I wake up the next morning. Maybe I was dreaming this part, but I could've sworn I heard him say "Be safe please, Babe." Maybe I was delusional and going crazy.

I finally crawled out of bed thirty minutes later and got into the shower. I noticed a big bottle of Bulgari and knew that God left this here for a reason.

I finished my shower and stepped out of the stall. I looked at the clock and saw that it was… ELEVEN!!! God only knew when my mom heard about me and Joe, but who knew how many times she's called. I ran out of the bedroom only to find the living room filled with Merry Men. Tank, Bobby, Lester, Hal, Ram and Cal were all sitting around Ranger's living room, apparently waiting on something.

"Damn Bombshell. Never knew you had quite a pair of legs on you. I mean, I've seen them before, but not quite so… bear… and wet." Lester was openly gawking at my legs while the rest of the guys were looking in other direction to give me privacy. I wrapped the towel around me tighter. Such nice guys, but what the hell were they doing here?

"Uh, guys, what are you doing here?"

"Ranger wanted us to check up on you. We've been here since ten thirty. That's when we heard the shower turn on. We didn't expect you to come out in just a towel." Tank said.

"Well, you know I'm alive and well. Now go before I shoot you. That means you too Lester." I watched all the guys leave and Lester walk out with his hung low. He turned and looked at me with hopeful eyes; I shook my head no and pointed at the door.

As soon as his sulking form turned the corner and closed the door, I ran to the kitchen and looked through my purse in search of my phone. I found it, only to see that my phone had died. Fuck.

I ran back to the bedroom and walked into the closet. Looking for something to wear was going to be difficult with all of these great clothes to choose from. I grabbed a t-shirt, a pair of jeans, panties and a bra and I got dressed for the day. I made a mental list of all the things I had to do today and made sure to add "TALK TO TANK" in there somewhere. Yesterday made me realize that I need to make some changes in my life. First being the lifestyle I had.

First stop on my list of things to do was go by the bonds office and pick up any flies that were there for me. I made a quick detour to the donut shop and picked up a dozen tasty cakes for Connie, Lula and me. When I pulled up to the office, I noticed Lula's red firebird was already here. That means she most likely already knows, along with Connie, about what happened yesterday. Time to face the music.

I heaved myself out of truck and into the office, only to be immediately assaulted with bombardment.

"Skinny white, what the hell were you thinkin' shootin' Supercop in the ass? That was a fine ass and you had to go and ruin it for the man. What the hell is wrong with you?" I looked at Connie, waiting for her to start in on me along with Lula.

"I'm not saying a damn thing. I know what happened and I commend you for not shooting Joyce right in head along with Morelli. That's the second time that shit has happened to you."

"Wait! You didn't tell me that part. Joyce was the one he was bangin' behind your back?! No! I wish that bitch would walk up in here again and I'll bust a cap right in her ass just for you white girl."

"Thanks Lula. That won't be necessary though. I really don't care anymore. I hope they're happy together." We all heard loud music coming down the street and turned to see the devil park their car in the lot.

Joyce angled her leather clad legs out of her car and ambled her way up the walk and into the office.

"Why, hello there Stephanie. I'm sorry you had to find out about me and Joe like that yesterday. It's for the best though. I suggest you move on with your life." She smiled at me thinking that she had finally won the ever long war between us.

"Trust me Joyce, I have moved on. And I have a life to live, but not before I say thank you for giving me the wakeup call I've needed for a while now. Hope you and Joe are happy with your lives."

"Don't worry Stephanie, we will be." I looked at her and gave her my best Burg eye roll. She scoffed at me and turned on her heel to walk into Vinnie's office. I turned to Connie, took my files, said goodbye and headed back to my car. I looked through my files before I left the lot and saw that it was only Mooner and Dougie and my grandmother in the pile. I made my first stop at my parent's house to pick up grandma and then went through a drive-thru to get food for Mooner.

We pulled up to Monner's place at ten and promptly knocked on his door. I heard shuffling around, but no one ever came to the door.

"Mooner? It's Steph. Open up the door. I brought lunch and maybe hoping to catch some Gilligan's Island. I heard there was a twelve hour marathon." I yelled through the door but still no one ever came. My spidey senses were telling me something was wrong and that I should leave, but I couldn't just leave Mooner in there helpless.

"Grandma, I want you to go back to the truck and wait there for me. And please, for the love of all that is good, don't shoot anything!"

"Fine. Steal all my fun for the day. Hey, do you smell something burning?"

I waited for my grandma to get back in the car before I opened the door. I saw the smoke before I called out and heard the guys in the kitchen, mumbling about satanic stoves. I rounded the corner and saw flames licking up the sides of the walls.

"Mooner! Dougie! Get out of there! Leave the fire alone and come on!" They turned and saw me and ran my way. Right as we made it out of the door, the whole place blew to pieces.

The force of the explosion threw me across the driveway and into the street along with Mooner and Dougie. I felt my head hit the concrete before I could process anything. After that, God only knows what happened, before everything went black.

I woke up to this annoying beeping, thinking I was still asleep; only to remember what the hell just happened. I was in the freaking hospital! Thanks to Mooner!

"Where the hell is he? As soon as I get my hands on him, he is so dead." I listened to myself talk, my voice parched from the lack of water. As I listened closer, I could hear snickering in the background. I really didn't want to open my eyes, tired of being ridiculed for my failed attempts to correct society. But I had to see at least who it was.

I cracked open an eye to see Lester sitting in on chair, Tank standing next to him, and the one person I did not want to see; Morelli.

"Cupcake, what the hell were you thinking? You could have gotten yourself killed! Don't you think you could have at least thought of someone besides yourself before you go into a burning building! I don't see why you don't just quit…" He went on and on over his usual "Steph can't do anything right" rant. I didn't listen; I never did. I turned to Lester and nodded my head in Joe's direction. He got the point and stood up next to Joe, towering over him by a good two inches and at least fifty pounds.

Tank got the hint and took the opposite side of Joe and they both just stared at him till he shut up.

"I don't think she wants you here anymore. You need to leave."

"Steph can talk for herself. And I'll leave whenever I feel like it, dammit."

"I don't think you get it. Steph wants you gone. We want you gone. Leave her alone. You've hurt her enough. Go." In the three years I've known Tank, I have never seen him this mad or heard him say so much in one sentence.

"Listen, I really don't want to get physical with a cop, but right now you're really pushing it. I will hit a cop."

Joe turned to look at me. "Do you want me to leave, Cupcake?"

"No Joe. I want you to leave me alone. That means don't talk to me, don't call me, and don't even think about me. I'm tired of you berating me for my fuck-ups. I already feel bad enough as it is. You and everyone else: mom, you, TPD, the newspaper, everyone, are always either telling me how much of a failure I am, cracking jokes on me, or betting on when I'll mess up again. But you know what; it's all about to change. I'm gonna make all of you regret ever doubting me again. I've already talked to Tank about it, haven't I?" I looked to him, hoping he would catch my drift and pick up on the charade.

"We start training on Monday. Everything is set up for you Bombshell." He gave me a wink, letting me know he caught on. But what he didn't get was that I was serious.

"Fine. So who are you gonna crawl to next? Your parents? Manoso? His thugs? Nobody is gonna want to take care of you."

I sat up in bed for the first time to really look Joe in the eyes. "I dare you to say something else about my friends. I swear Morelli, not only will I come after you, but I'll send every one of these wonderful people, who I happen to love, that you keep talking about, after you. Leave and never talk to me again." We stared at each other, neither of us wanting to back down, until Morelli caved in and stormed out of the room.

As the door opened, Bobby came in with a huge smile on his face. The minute he saw Morelli in the room, the smile left him and turned into a scowl. He stepped to the side and let him through, eyes never leaving his retreating back until he got into the elevator.

I sank back down into the bed, my head in my hands. I lifted my head, pushing my unruly hair out of my face only to see Lester with a shit eating grin on his face.

"What are you smiling at Lester?" I asked.

"You said you loved us."

"Okay… and? Of course I love you guys. You do so much for me, how could I not love you?"

"Bomber, you have no idea how good it feels to know that you're willing to share your love with us. You're the only one who won't look at us for what we are, but who we are. We love you, too. All of us." Bobby said.

I turned to Tank, and saw that he was smiling at me too.

"You know, I was serious about me changing my life around."

"I know. I was serious too. Your training starts on Monday. Be there at 5:30 sharp."

"Is that the reason why you're smiling so much?"

"I just can't wait to see what Ranger was talking about you being a grouch in the morning. I heard it was really funny." He started laughing, along with Bobby and Lester.

I gave him by best Burg glare and they just laughed it even harder. That's okay though. This jus gave me even more incentive to make everything better. When I was finished, they wouldn't be able to laugh at me anymore.

I would make sure of that. For me. For my family. Most of all… for Ranger.

**Okay, so this is my first attempt at a fanfic. Reviews would greatly be helpful so I know where I could definitely improve. That I would greatly appreciate it if someone volunteer the kick ass Beta abilities for my horrid writing.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so this is going to be chapter 2 out of… I have no idea how many. But I do want to thank JenRar for becoming one of the most kick ass people in the world. She decided to be my Beta. And to those of you who reviewed and alerted me… THANK YOU!!! You guys were my guinea pigs, and you responded fantastically. You make me all warm and fuzzy on the inside. Okay I'm done blabbing. Oh, and I'm really sorry for the long update. I'm super busy even though that's a lame excuse.**

So, I know I said I was going to change my life… yeah I'm not so sure about that now. I was lying in bed Sunday night, on my back in my thinking position, _thinking_ about what Tank was going to put me through tomorrow. I mean, I wanted to do the change thing, but I didn't want to lose myself along the way. This whole change is for me; no one else. It might benefit some people, but ultimately I'm doing this for me. I'm trying to make myself a better person- not just some family disgrace, someone who messes everything up, a source of entertainment, or even a failure. I am turning over a new leaf.

I ended up rolling over in just enough time to see the alarm clock turn to 12:00 and I fell asleep shortly thereafter. What I completely forgot about was that my training started at an ungodly hour of the morning.

I was woken up that morning to the sound of locks tumbling. I decided to ignore it till the person realized I was asleep and left me alone. I heard multiple footsteps coming closer to the room and burrowed further down into the covers. Next I heard the door open and then I felt the bed dip next to me. If I hadn't known better, I would've thought it was Ranger, but he was in the wind at the moment.

"Bomber…" I couldn't recognize the voice through my sleep-induced haze, but rolled over to my other side, my back to the stranger. I felt my bed shake with the laughter coming from the man in my bed.

"Bombshell, come on sweetie. You gotta get up. We start training today."

"Fuck you. Let me sleep for another hour."

"Stephanie, get up and out of bed before I pull you out." I knew that one was Tank, but I could also hear the smile in his voice.

"I said Fuck. You."

"Alright, you asked for it." I didn't expect him to actually do anything, but he decided to grab my feet and try to pull me off the bed. He twisted me onto my back, and then threw me over his shoulder. I took a guess that he was going to the bathroom.

"Tank!" Before I knew it, I was under a cold stream of water, fully clothed.

The Ass, as I have deemed him, turned off the water and threw a towel in my direction with a smirk on his face. I pulled the towel off my face and glared at him, hopefully making him realizing that payback was a bitch, and she will come full force.

"I will enjoy this until you can learn to follow directions on when to get up," Tank said.

"Fine. I'm up. Are you happy?" I seethed with anger, but at myself, not Tank. He gave me fair warning. I just didn't take it seriously. Now I know that Tank doesn't mess around.

I got out of the shower and looked in the mirror.

I looked like a drowned cat! My clothes were sticking to my body, my makeup from the previous night was running down my face, and my hair was… I couldn't even describe it.

I walked back to the room to see Tank standing by the window and Lester sprawled across the bed. I walked to Ranger's closet to grab clothes, to the dresser for panties and a sports bra, and back to the bathroom for a shower. Before I got to my door, I looked to my clock and saw that it was only 5:00!

"What the hell guys? I thought you said this started at 5:30, not 5:00? Why am I up?"

"I know what I said. Your training starts at 5:30, but we need you up at 5:00 so you can get ready." As he said that, the smile on his face grew more and more. That bastard knew what he was doing, and he was doing it to piss me off.

I stormed off to the bathroom and started the shower. I took care of mother nature and brushed my teeth before I got in. By the time I got out and dressed, it was 5:25.

I walked out into the living room, about to get something to eat for breakfast, but was stopped short when this big black wall came into view.

"Let's go, Bomber. We need to get this show on the road."

"Can I not get something to eat?"

"No."

"But –"

"Unless you want to be puking your guts up afterwards, I suggest not eating till we get back to Haywood. Your trainer is just going to be... someone special. They're not going to be here till later on in the afternoon. Someone may tag along every once in awhile to evaluate, but other that, you're stuck with Lester. Only because we know you don't like him very much." He added the last part with a big, white smile on his face.

"Hey! Everyone happens to love me, thank you very much." Lester added, faking mock hurt and indifference.

"Fine. Whatever you say, Captain," I said.

I walked down the stairs – yeah, that's right, I said it – and into the parking garage, immediately looking for a waiting black SUV; which I didn't find.

"Uh, guys, where's the truck?" I looked at Lester and found him grinning ear to ear. I averted my eyes and glanced at Tank to find him laughing at me.

"You're going to run from here to your old apartment and back," Lester said.

"You guys are assholes. You're actually making me run from Haywood and back to Haywood?! That's at least seven miles. That's crazy!" When I finished, both of them were on the ground, full out laughing, something I've never seen before.

"Fine, then. I'll give you two something to laugh about. You both can kiss my ass when I make it back to Haywood." I started off down the street, and made a left toward my old apartments.

By the time we made it back the building, I was drenched in sweat, panting, trying to fill my lungs with much needed oxygen. I put my hands on my knees and bent over at the waist, trying to breathe. I heard the gates open, and saw Lester standing there with a smile on his face, _not _looking like he had just run five miles.

"What are you smiling at?" My voice was harsh due to the lack of moisture in my throat. He gave me a bottle of water and a towel to wipe my face.

"Come on Bombshell, we need to start on your weight lifting." I looked at him and just shrugged my shoulders. What I didn't expect was for him to make me run up four flights of stairs. Bastard.

When we made it up to the gym, I was out of breath again. I didn't realize how badly out of shape I was. Damn.

For an entire hour and a half, Lester made me do every weight lift possible and by the end… I couldn't feel any part of my arms. I couldn't lift them up and they felt like dead weight. I knew right now that by tomorrow morning, I would be extremely sore.

After a fifteen minute break for food and water, Bobby walked up to me and said that I was to be in the gun range in five minutes.

I got down to the range and saw Lester already there, loading up every make and model of a gun. He turned to me and gave me his most innocent smile, pointing to the stall next to him. I listened to him as he explained every piece and its function to every gun, then how to load and unload properly, then finally how to shoot one the right way.

We spent three hours down there, going over and over what he had explained to me. When we finished, I was so tired I could barely hold my arms up. And they weren't even up to begin with! My thighs burned like they were being smoldered from the inside out. Every muscle protested any movement that required energy it didn't have. I turned to Lester and found him staring at me with this weird look in his eyes, as if he was amazed at something.

"What are you staring at Lester?"

"I'm just surprised to see you still standing here. I'm sorry to say that none of us thought you would make it through today. Just wanted to let you know how proud we all are of you, Bombshell." He walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me tightly, kissing the top of my head.

"See, this is why I love you guys so much." My eyes were stinging with unshed tears. I knew that if I cried now, I wouldn't stop later.

I left Lester in the range and made my way up to the seventh floor; via elevator, might I add. Apparently, Ranger had left a package with Tank for me that I was supposed to get when I came by the office the next day. He'd left me a letter saying that he would try to talk to me when he could and that he was going to miss me. He also left me a key fob, allowing me access to the seventh floor.

I let myself into the apartment and went straight for the bathroom. I ran the bath water as hot as I could get it and jumped right in.

The minute my body hit the water, every muscle instantly relaxed into a pile of mush.

I don't know how long I stayed in there, but soon I heard banging on the bathroom door.

I jumped out of the tub and wrapped a towel around my body before the person on the other side of the door could bust it down.

They stared pounding on the door again before I could get the towel around my chest.

"One second, please." When I opened the door, I almost passed out right then and there. Standing there on the other side of the door stood a spitting image of Ranger, only older, taller, and more gray hair mixed with his long, obsidian black hair.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my son's apartment?" His voice was deep and had a thick Spanish accent. You could easily tell he wasn't originally from here.

"Uh…"

"I asked you a question. Who are you and what are you doing in my son's room?"

I looked behind him to see Tank barreling into the bedroom with Lester and Bobby.

"Pops, its okay," I heard Tank say.

"Senior Manoso," aw shit, I thought, "this is Stephanie. This is the girl you're going to be training." Bobby had to be out of his freaking mind thinking I was going to be working with this guy.

"This also happens to be Carlos' _amante secreto. _This is the one he's been fawning over for three years now." I didn't know what Lester was talking about, but as he said this, Sr. Manoso lost his cold exterior and warmth took over his eyes. He became less tense and a smile even came to his face.

"Ah, so you're the one who tamed the wild heart of my son." He looked me up and down and then realization came across his features. "Uh, I will leave you to put something more suitable on than just a towel." Then I remembered that I was standing there in nothing but a towel.

"Uh… yeah, okay." I turned around and shut the door behind me. I felt the heat creep across my face when it finally hit me that I just met Ranger's dad, clad in a towel. _Great first impressions, Steph. That was a fantastic performance in proving you are so not worth Ranger's time. _

I rushed to the pile of clothes that I had brought with me into the bathroom and quickly changed into them. I swiftly ran my fingers through my hair, hoping and praying that it would cooperate with me for at least an hour.

I opened the door and made my way out to the living room, only to be faced with all the Merry Men and Ranger's father. I was so not ready for this kind of meeting. Not only was I not ready for this, but deep inside… I was having a severe heart attack due to the stress and nervousness of standing in front of Batman's father.

"Okay, so you wanted to talk to me?" I looked around the room to see everyone looking at Mr. Manoso, waiting for him to speak. He stood up and crossed the floor to stand in front of me.

"I was called in to do a favor for Tank. He said that there was this cute little spitfire who wanted training. He said that I was her best bet at actually finishing her training. He also said that this was the girl who's got my son wrapped around her little finger. Is that girl you?" He raised one eyebrow, something I know Ranger inherited from him, and looked at me for my answer.

I looked around the room and stopped my traveling gaze on Tank. He gave me his best smile and I just glared at him. That oh-so-sweet 'I'm innocent' smile immediately left his face and I saw cold hard fear pass over his face. That bastard set me up and I just figured it out.

"Mr. Manoso, I'm sorry you had to waste your time in coming out here for no reason. I don't have anything against you- I just don't want Ranger coming home to find out that I've been spending time with his father. I love him too much to have him mad at me for invading the privacy that he has so secretly kept from me the past three years." I then realized that I just confessed my love for Mr. Manoso's son… right in front of him.

I turned to look at Tank and found him trying to be sneaky and walk out the room.

"And you! What the hell were you thinking, getting him up here? Do you not realize how much this means to me? And then you go and call the very least likely person to come down here and help. What the hell is wrong with you? Are you trying to get me sent to a third world country?" I popped him in the backside of his head and pushed him into the wall.

His shoulder hit the wall, knocking down a picture frame I've never noticed before. I picked up the frame and turned it over, only to stare into the deepest blue eyes I had ever seen on someone. I drop the frame back onto the carpet.

Ranger never has any pictures up. Especially ones of me when I'm not paying attention.

Mr. Manoso came over and picked up the frame as if it would break with the slightest amount of pressure. He turned it over and his eyes said a thousand words.

"_Hermosa_, this is a beautiful picture. Why are you acting as if it shouldn't belong on Carlos' wall?"

"Because it shouldn't. Ranger- I mean Carlos- never has any pictures on his wall; much less any pictures of me. Trust me, I'm not that special to him."

"Not from what I've heard. Pierre and Lester have told me how he looks at you and how he protects you. Carlos does not do that for just anyone."

"Who's Pierre?" I looked around the room for answers and found Tank with his hands covering his face. _No, you have got to be kidding me?_

"Are you serious, Tank? Your real name is Pierre?"

He was pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers when he spoke. "I would greatly appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about that little piece of information. Don't laugh either; it's already bad enough when you got Santos cracking jokes on it."

"Does Lula know?"

"Yes, of course she knows. I wouldn't be with her if she didn't know my real name. But she's also the only one who can get away with calling me that."

That is so not something you find out every day. A big bad ass ex-Army man's real name is Pierre.

"Well, that's not something you hear every day." I turned to look at Mr. Manoso and saw him smiling at everyone. God, he and Ranger resembled each other so much, it was uncanny. It was then that I came to a conclusion.

"Mr. Manoso-"

"Please stop calling me that. It makes me feel older than I am. Call me Ricardo." I looked at everyone and they were all bug-eyed and open mouthed.

"Okay. Ricardo, I would love for you to train me, but on one condition."

"Oh, really? And what's that one condition?"

"We finish my training before Ranger comes home and no one tells him anything; that will be my job. I'm already in enough trouble as it is by accepting."

"Fine. I accept you condition, but on one of my own conditions." I looked him in the eye to see if he was serious or if he was just mocking me. Sure enough, it looked like he was being serious. He walked up to and cupped my face between his hands and looked me right in the eye.

"When my son comes back from wherever, you are to show him what a wonderful woman you are and let him know what he's missing out on. Let him know that he needs to get his head out of his ass and see that his future is right in front of him." By the time he was done, I had tears in my eyes and my arms were wrapped tightly around his neck.

"_Querida_, I'm going to shape you into the woman you want to be _for you_. You better not be doing this for anyone but yourself."

"I'm not."

"Good. Well I am actually rather tired so I will see you, _hermosa_, tomorrow morning at 5:00 sharp. Don't be late or you will be in trouble." I didn't doubt it so I didn't say anything.

"Have a nice evening Ricardo. See you tomorrow morning." I walked to the kitchen to see if Ranger kept real food in his fridge. _No, of course he didn't_, I thought. I felt someone walk up behind me and turned around to see Ram there with a small smile on his face.

"Hey Ram, did you need something?"

"No, uh, I just wanted to tell you that we're all very proud of you. We know this is going to be hard for you, so if you need someone, you've got an entire family waiting to help. Love you, Bomber."

I ran and jumped onto him and gave him a hug, wrapping my legs and arms around him. This is the kind of family I've always wanted and needed.

I got down off of Ram and walked back out into the living room.

The only ones left in the living room were Tank, Lester and Bobby, all of whom were smiling like idiots at me.

"What the hell are all of you smiling at?" I asked.

"Well," Tank started, "Ricardo sure as hell likes you."

"I see that, and I think it's weird. He doesn't know me and he's already being the nicest person."

"That's not what I'm talking about. I was referring to the fact that he told you to call him Ricardo. He has to have a lot of respect for someone to allow that person to call him that. Trust me, I would know." Bobby explained that whole situation to me and now I understood a lot better than before.

Ranger's father might actually like me.

The next morning was just about the same except for the fact that Ricardo didn't pull me out of bed and into a cold shower. No, he just tricked me with Boston Cremes and fresh coffee, which _so_ was not there when I got out to the kitchen.

Ricardo set the same routine for me but didn't allow me to have those same breaks the guys did.

"Stephanie, if you think you can take a break here, then you'll think you can take a break when you're chasing skips. That is not only something you _can't_ do, but is also very dangerous."

He spent extra time with me on my self-defense moves and gun handling, per my asking and his compliance. By the end of the day, I was just as sore as I was the previous night, only tenfold.

"Stephanie, to end our time together, I want you to take the stairs all the way up to the seventh floor. After that, we are done for the day." I stood up straight, breathing heavy, and looked him in the eyes.

"Are you serious?!" He nodded his head like he had said this kind of statement every day.

"FUCK!" I took off at a dead sprint and even skipped every other step all the way up to the seventh floor.

By the time I made it up to the door, I noticed I was really out of breath and my chest hurt. I put my hand to my heart and felt it beating way too fast for my liking. I tried to breathe in but the air didn't make it to my lungs. I felt for the wall and leaned against it but I didn't stay up for too long. I felt my body slip to the floor and saw black dots swimming in my vision. I tried to call out but I had no air to breathe and the edges of my vision were blurring. By the time I saw nothing but black in my sight, I was on the floor with no one to come for me.


	3. Sorry for my fuck up

Many of you have been the absolute most awesome people in the world by letting me know of my serious fuck up. I said in the beginning of the story that Steph had sold her apartment and then the next morning she woke up in her apartment. That wasn't supposed to happen that way. I greatly appreciate anyone who points out my mistakes; I take them in stride and to heart. It's what helps me be a not-so-bad (is that even right???) writer. I just wanted so say thank you to everyone and kick ass observation skills that I am obviously lacking in.

Taylor


	4. Chapter 3

**Thank you everyone for supporting me and my first attempt at fanfiction.**

_Beep… beep… beep._

I woke up to this really annoying sound, not knowing what or where it came from.

_Beep… beep… beep._

Never mind, it's just my alarm. I reached over to shut it off, but I felt something pulling my arm back to its place.

_What the fuck is this?_ I thought. I opened my eyes to see a bright white ceiling.

_Shit._ I looked down at my arm to see an IV sticking out of my arm. Everything from the previous day came crashing back.

"Thank God you're alright, Steph," Tank's booming voice said.

I looked around the room and saw that all of the Merry Men were here.

"Somebody want to tell me what happened?" I looked at everyone and saw that no one would look at me.

I heard the door open and saw Bobby walk in holding a chart.

"Nice to see you've joined us again, Steph. Has anyone told you what happened?" I shook my head no and he continued on.

"You pushed yourself way too hard." He stopped looking at the chart and looked at me instead. "Too much strain and stress was put on your heart. You know you can talk to any of us whenever you need to. What's going on with you, Stephanie?"

I looked around the room at everyone who was here: Tank, Ram, Lester, Bobby, Cal, Hal, and even Sr. Manoso. The room was dead quiet till I spoke.

"I'm scared," I paused to look everyone in the eye, tears welling up in my eyes. "I'm scared out of my mind about Ranger being out there."

"Does this happen every time Boss man leaves?" Bobby asked.

"No. I mean, yes. I mean, every time he's not here my heart hurts, but I always thought it was just because I missed him so much. I lose sleep, I don't eat as much. Everything just seems to lose its appeal without him here. You guys have no idea how much I love him. I would do anything for him, no matter what, even if it's leaving him."

As I was trying to compose myself, the door to my room slammed open and Binkie appeared with a smile on his face.

"Boss is on line. He's demanding to talk to Steph." He turned and ran out of the room, everyone following after him. I looked to Bobby, silently questioning if I was able to get up and move around.

"Let's take it easy and do the wheelchair. I don't want you to put anymore strain on your heart than what is absolutely necessary." He walked over to my bedside, rolling a wheelchair beside him.

"Fine, but I don't have to like it." I slowly pushed myself out of the bed and into the chair, ready to go and talk to Ranger.

Bobby started pushing me, but he was going to slow for my liking. I pushed his hands off the handle bars and wheeled myself to the elevator.

"God, could you go any slower?" I pushed the button for the fifth floor and impatiently waited for the god-awful slow elevator to show our arrival.

As we stopped on the fifth floor, I sped out of the elevator like a bat out of hell, trying to hurry to catch Ranger before he had to go.

As I wheeled into the conference room, everyone else was leaving. When I turned the corner, I was immediately met with the most captivating chocolate brown eyes. The brightest 200 watt smile graced his beautiful face, but was slowly dying as I came into his full view. I was still in my workout clothes, but I was also in a wheelchair.

"Babe, what happened?" I could clearly see the worry in his eyes and hear it in his voice. Ranger never expressed any emotions, no matter what. This completely caught me off guard.

"Too much strain and stress." _Why lie to him?_ I thought.

"Mind telling me why?" he quirked his eyebrow, letting me know I caught his attention.

"Well, strain because of my work out routine and stress…" I weighed the options of me telling him or not and here's what I came up with: if I DO tell him, I could ruin our relationship. If I DON'T tell him, it'll create more stress; which I'd rather have than no relationship. "Stress just because."

"What made you start working out?" he questioned.

"I'm tired of my skips out running me. And for myself."

"Have you met any new and interesting people?" He smiled at me and I knew he was talking about me attracting the people with a serious case of issues. That wasn't I was referring to, though. Cough, Sr. Manoso, cough.

"Yeah, I have, but I have a feeling that you already know them. Quite well, actually. You'll meet them when you get back," I said with a smile, thinking of the day he came home.

_Since when has home been with Ranger?_ I thought. _The day I realized I love him and no one else._

The smile that had been on his face slowly died with each passing second, his blank face taking its place.

"Babe, I don't know when I'll be back. It'll be at least another six months."

I felt tears gather and spill over, showing my weakness when it comes to him and these dangerous missions.

"Please be careful," I whispered.

A small smile graced his lips. "I always am. Let me talk to Tank." I nodded and wheeled myself out of the conference room. After Tank went in and closed the door, I pushed myself into the elevator and onto the seventh floor as my silent tears fell harder. I got into the apartment and went straight to the bedroom. I slipped out of my clothes, into one of Ranger's t-shirts, and cried myself to sleep.

I woke up the next morning, went on my five mile run and talked to Ricardo about my new work out plan. Apparently Bobby cut it in half so that I'll be alternating every other day.

For the next two weeks, we didn't hear anything from Ranger. I was starting to get worried when Bobby came up and told me that if I put any more stress on my heart, I could do some pretty severe and permanent damage.

He also said we can't have paid help dying on them. I had started doing searches again because I was bored and wanted the extra money. Since I had sold my apartment, I had all of this extra money that I didn't spend, so I opened up a savings account. I don't know what the hell I'm going to do with it, but at least I won't have thousands of dollars just lying around waiting for one of these damn skips to break in my house and steal.

I still got calls from my mother everyday and I still don't answer them. If I do, all she talks about is why Joe and I aren't together any more. Apparently Joe has been calling her to get her to talk to me. I'm not even answering Joe's call anymore. He can burn in hell for all I care.

I was still chasing skips with Lula, only now I'm not rolling in garbage with them. I'm actually staying on my feet, clean, and keeping up with my skips. Lula and Connie had noticed a difference and said that they were happy for me, hoping that I'll keep this up and turn my life around.

"You deserve it, Steph. After all the shit you've been through lately, you need some kind of happiness in your life."

"Yeah, white girl. Get yourself together and then you can go back and beat Super Cop's ass. Well, not really his ass, 'cause that man has got one of the finest one's out there. That's somethin' you can sink your teeth into. But it ain't nothin' like my Tank's."

"Way too much information Lula, though I am happy for you and Tank."

I made my way out of the bonds office and into the truck, taking myself for some seriously needed therapy- shopping. I spent four hours in that place, going to shop after shop, spending my RangeMan check, and making countless trips back and forth to the truck.

As I was making my way out to the truck for the last time, I saw someone hunched over on the passenger side, peeking through the window every few seconds. I looked closer when he came back up and saw that it was Charlie Polanski, one of my high bond skips. That son of a bitch was trying to break into my car!

I pulled out my gun from my purse and checked to see if I actually had it loaded.

_Time to save my truck while getting paid at the same time_, I thought sarcastically. I walked up to the side of the truck and blatantly pointed my gun at Charlie's head.

"Stop what you're doing and step away from the truck. I'm Stephanie Plum from the bonding company and you're in violation of your bond. You didn't show up for court." I stopped talking and waited for a response.

"Fuck you." His words slurred together and from where I was standing he reeked of pure vodka.

"Move away from the truck."

"No."

"I'm going to tell you again, move away from the truck."

"I said no, you stupid cunt!"

I didn't hesitate and shot the bastard in the leg. I saw him drop whatever he was using to pick the lock and reach for his leg. I took the advantage and reached for my cuffs. I had Charlie cuffed and shackled with a towel under his leg in less than five minutes. That whole task probably would have taken an hour if I wasn't getting this training from Ricardo.

I headed for TPD and let Robin take care of the processing while I waited for my body receipt. Vinnie was going to kill me when he found out I shot one of his skips. I could really care less.

As I was walking out, I bumped into the one person I have been avoiding. It had been working so well till now.

"Hey Cupcake." He flashed his award-winning smile and put his arms beside my head, locking me between them against the wall. "You miss Bob and the boys already?"

I looked him up and down, then in the eyes.

"Bob, yes. The boys, hell no. All three of you can go rot in hell for all I care."

"What did I do that has made you so angry at me that you haven't spoken to me for three weeks?"

I knew a shock and disbelief crossed my face. That was what really pissed me off. _Men can be so damn STUPID at times and not know what the fuck they are doing with their lives,_ I thought.

"Joe, you must not realize who and what you were fucking when I walked in. You were cheating on me with Joyce."

"Oh and you weren't cheating on me with Ranger?" Our Italian tempers were coming out and I knew this was going to be one hell of a fight.

"No, Joe, I wasn't actually. I was faithful to you the entire time. You knew about my first marriage how that ended with the exact same bitch you were doing. I would never deliberately hurt you like that. I have more of a heart than that."

"Bullshit, Stephanie! I knew you were doing Manoso when he got shot after the Scrogg incident. You were by his side in heartbeat. Nobody does that if they're not fucking them senseless!"

"You're right! Nobody does that if they're just having sex. You do that for someone you love, Joe. Whenever I was hurt, you didn't do anything but come to my room and yell at me for screwing everything up. On the other hand, Ranger actually came to see me. He even stayed with me sometimes, unlike my boyfriend at the time. All you ever did was yell at _me_ when something went wrong. Even if it wasn't _my_ fault!"

"Oh, so now you _love_ Ranger?! That's fucking great Stephanie!" He slammed his fist into the wall beside my head, leaving a hole where his hand had come down. "When he dumps you because he's found someone else, don't come crawling back to me. All I'll do is look you in the eye and say 'I told you so'."

I brought up my knee and got him right in his gut. I kicked him behind his knee and pushed him down to the ground. Before I could pull my gun and shoot him, two strong arm wrapped around me, pinning my arms to my sides. I looked back and saw that it was Lester. Before he could pull me far enough away, I got one good kick with my steel toed CATs right into his ribs.

I closed my eyes and felt the hot, angry tears fall down my face. I pushed Lester off of me and ran out to my truck. As soon as I felt ready, I started the ignition and peeled out of the parking lot, speeding my way back to RangeMan.

When I got into the building, I headed straight for the fifth floor, in search of only one person. I found him leaning against the wall talking to Bobby.

"Ricardo, I need to go to the gun range. Will you come with me?"

"Sure, _querida_. What's the matter?"

"I'll tell you when we get down there." I started towards the elevator, with only one thing on my mind- shooting the hell out of little paper men who just so happened to look like Joe Morelli.

I took three different guns from the rent rack and loaded each of them up. I grabbed a pair of goggles and a head set and walked over to an empty stall.

"Stephanie, don't you think you should put two of those back for now?" Ricardo looked at me with concern in his caring eyes.

Why can't all men be like Ricardo? "No, I won't put back two. I need them to stay here." I grabbed both of the SW1911 pistols and shot them at the same time at the paper man till both magazines were empty. Once those were done, I grabbed the M&P .40 pistol and finished off the little man fifty yards away.

When Ricardo realized I was shooting blanks and just staring at the paper, he pried the gun from my hands, took off my goggles and head set, and just hugged me while I cried.

I don't know how long I stood there crying on his shoulder, but when I pulled away, his cream sweater was wet from my tears.

"Are you going to tell me now what has you so upset?" I looked him in the eyes and saw that he really wanted to know.

As I relayed the incidents of the entire day, how it started off so great and then went to hell in a hand basket, I could tell he was digesting every word that came out of me and not letting it go in one ear and out the other. As I finished, my head ended up back on his shoulder.

"Joe confirmed my worst fears. I wouldn't be surprised if Ranger did leave me for someone else. I don't even think he wants me that way to begin with. I know that when he gets back, everything is going to be exactly the same. Stolen kisses in the alley and secret touches along with those kisses. He can find someone so much better than me; someone who doesn't attract some of the craziest people in Trenton. You know, a girl who doesn't blow up a car every other week because of the people she attracts. Especially someone who doesn't have some of her closest friends placing bets on when the next time she's going screw everything up. It doesn't matter though, because whatever he chooses, I'll take what I can get. I'd rather have his friendship than nothing at all." I tilted my head up and realized that I must have said something to make him mad.

"Ricardo, did I say something wrong?" I was starting to get worried. Whatever I said must have really made him mad because he didn't answer me. He just pulled me to the elevator, pushed five, and when the elevator opened, he took me straight to a conference room. Then he left.

"What the fuck?" that was all I could say before Tank, Bobby and Lester came in, followed by Ricardo.

"Ok," he leaned forward, put his hands on the table and looked at each of the guys, "so I just heard the most heartbreaking story from this woman about the ass I call my son. Anybody want to explain what she's talking about, because I know that's not how I raised every one of you boys to treat a woman." He looked each of them in the eye and waited impatiently for the excuse. I was eager to hear how they were going to protect him.

"Ranger's head is too far up his ass to notice the perfection in front of him." I turned to Lester who was leaning against the wall and saw that he was looking as serious as he can get; that's pretty damn serious for him.

"What are you talking about Lester?" I walked up to him and stood right in front of him, toe to toe, waiting for him to say it was just a joke.

"Steph, you must not notice how great you would be to any man."

"Bomber, you are every man's dream for a perfect woman. Smart, funny, hell of an fighter, and beyond gorgeous," Bobby said.

"You obviously don't know how many guys here would kill to have you in their lives the way Ranger does. He's too much of a chickenshit to tell you how much he cares for you. Everything he does for you, he won't do for just anyone. You have to know Ranger, Carlos, the way you do in order to get that kind of affection. I'm telling you Stephanie, Carlos loves you. I doubt he's told you yet, but it's there, waiting for you to explore. He wants you to say it first; if not, then you both will never know what you could be. Trust me. I learned the hard way with Lula." Tank had gotten up out of his chair and made his way towards me. Now standing in front of me, I could see that the guys were telling the truth and were practically selling out Ra- Carlos.

"I was wrong about you boys. At least my lessons got through to you three. Now I want to know what the hell my son is thinking." I walked over to Ricardo and hugged him, surprising him to no end. He stiffened in my arms and I thought I'd something wrong. I was about to pull away when he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me as close and as tight as he could.

"Don't worry, _querida_; I will beat some sense into him when he gets back. When I'm done with him, he'll be crawling back to you."

I laughed quietly before I thanked him and walked out of the conference room. I rode the elevator up to seven, changed into some running clothes and went back down into the gym to run an extra five miles before I went to bed.


	5. Chapter 4

**So… I know that I haven't updated in like a million years and my Beta is probably wondering what the fuck happened to me, but to let everyone know, I AM ALIVE!!! My one and only computer crashed with all my work on it and my uncle came and took it. I forgot how long it's been since I updated, but two days after my last update till about a couple hours ago my computer has been gone since. All is good, since I was smart and wrote all future chapters and now all I have to do is just type them. No worries. And Jen, if you're still my Beta, I love you!!! :)**

**Yay story time!!!**

_**Previously:**_

"_I was wrong about you boys. At least my lessons got through to you three. Now I want to know what the hell my son is thinking." I walked over to Ricardo and hugged him, surprising him to no end. He stiffened in my arms and I thought I'd something wrong. I was about to pull away when he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me as close and as tight as he could._

"_Don't worry __querida__; I will beat some sense into him when he gets back. When I'm done with him, he'll be crawling back to you."_

_I laughed quietly before I thanked him and walked out of the conference room. I rode the elevator up to seven, changed into some running clothes and went back down into the gym to run an extra five miles before I went to bed._

It's been three months since I last spoke to Ranger. It's been three months since I beat the mess out of Joe and realized I didn't love him like I thought I did. It's been three months since I realized that my heart had belonged to a man who doesn't even know it's been his for the last three years. It's also been three months since I had my last heart issue. Bobby said that since my talk with Ranger, my heart issues had greatly decreased and I was back to my normal workout routine. Now that one of the issues is no longer in the equation, the issue being Joe and his bitch ass, there had been a significant drop in my blood pressure. I'm not having any more of those weird attacks on my body, and I've actually lost a lot of my unnecessary weight. I'm actually a size five! I haven't been this small since I was in high school.

Fuck yeah; my life is the epitome of perfection. I was still doing searches for all the guys and Tank told me that as soon as Ranger got back, he was going to talk to him about giving me a permanent job here, since I'm such an asset.

Ricardo was still training me, even though he says he is no longer needed. I told him he was always going to be needed, especially if I hurt myself trying to do something I know I can't do. Today though, Ric told me he had to leave tonight so he can be back in time for the wedding tomorrow.

"Who's getting married?"

Carlos has a really big family, you know, him being one out of five kids and all. But I didn't notice that not everyone was married. I just thought it was only him single.

"Carlos' youngest sister, April, is marrying her fiancé tomorrow night. We sent Carlos an invitation, but whether or not he was going to come was a surprise."

"Oh, well, tell April I said congratulations, even though she doesn't know me."

Ric looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, "Why don't you tell her for yourself? Come tomorrow night. Everyone would love to meet you. I know my wife, Maria, is dying to meet you."

"I can't just come to the wedding like that! I wasn't invited. I wouldn't know anyone there. I don't even have the right dress for a wedding."

"Querida, you are coming tomorrow night and that's final. Don't argue with your future father-in-law. Just come in your best dress and take one of the guys if you have to. They're all practically family and everyone knows them."

"I don't think Carlos would appreciate it if I went without telling him."

"Beautiful, you were going to go anyways. Ranger was telling me and Tank about April getting married and him making you his date. You know, this being a chance to actually meet his family." I turned around to see Lester and Tank standing right behind us, blatantly listening to our conversation.

I looked between the guys and Ricardo, and after five minutes of arguing with myself, I was finally convinced to go to the wedding, even if I think it's really wrong of me. I even deemed myself as going solo that night, just so I can make a good impression on Carlos' family and not come with someone else that's not Carlos.

Before I had the chance to head back up to the apartment, Binky came running out with the coined blank face on.

"Boss is online. He only wants to talk to Steph for right now." By the time everyone had turned to look at me, I was already heading towards a conference room.

When I turned into the room, I was met with the most beautiful, yet god awful, sight. Carlos was beaten and battered from what I could see of his face. He had a black eye, two butterfly stitches on his right eyebrow, a lip busted in two places, and healing stitches on his neck. He had cut his hair and I could see the area where he apparently had to also get stitches on the side of his head. Something either went right or terribly wrong… maybe even both.

"Want to explain why you look like you were thrown out of a plane without a parachute?" I didn't want to sound like Joe when he questioned me as I lay in the hospital, but unfortunately that's exactly how it came out.

Carlos cracked a smile before talking. "One of our few plans went right and wrong at the same time. Our so called 'bomb expert'," and he actually did the air quotes, believe it or not, "didn't set the timer right and we were caught in the explosion range. He didn't give us enough time to get out of the way." He didn't sound angry, so at least he wasn't going to kill the guy.

"I'll have you know, it was your own damn faults that all of you wanted to go with me, just to make sure I did it right. I was under a lot of pressure at that moment." When Carlos turned around, a cup was thrown at him from somewhere out of the camera's range. When he faced me again, he had a smile on his face, but someone else joined the picture.

"Stephanie?!"

As I looked closer at the person who was sharing the screen with Carlos, something clicked and I realized I knew the person very well.

"Joey Facciano! Man, I haven't seen you since we graduated. How have you been?"

"Wait, you two know each other?" I looked at Carlos and noticed something that looked a little like… jealousy?

"Yeah, man. We went from grade school to high school together. I watched her grow up into the sexy little spitfire she is today. You are lookin' good, baby!" I was still looking at Carlos and I could definitely he was jealous, something he'd never expressed about or around me.

"Thanks, Joey! What the hell happened to you after we went to high school?"

"Well, the minute I left your party, I went to the local Army recruiter and signed up to be in the Army. I spent six years there then started training to be what I am today: a bomb expert."

"Apparently not, from what Carlos is telling me."

"Carlos?"

"The man sitting right next to you, dumbass."

"Oh, you mean Ranger. He's just grumpy because he hasn't gotten any ass lately."

"Yeah, I know." I looked at Carlos and smiled at him, though I didn't get any response due to the fact that he was staring at Joey with murder in his eyes.

"Do you mind if I finish talking to my girlfriend?"

_What the hell?! Since when did we date?_

"Since I noticed how close I was to dying due to some idiot," he said, looking me dead in the eyes.

"Whoa, you two are together like that?" Joey turned his head to the side and slapped himself in the forehead. "Shit, I really don't want to die tonight."

"Don't worry, Joey. I'm just as lost as you are. Care to explain why we're doing this via satellite and however many miles away?"

"Because this jackass made me realize how much I love you."

"Uhh… I don't think I should… so I'm just going to… oh, forget it." Out the corner of my eye, I saw Joey get up and walk elsewhere.

"Babe… Steph, I realized I have some serious making up to do for the rest of our lives. I really need to redeem myself. Babe, I'm sorry for all the time I wasted, but I know now that I've loved you for the longest time and just didn't want to admit that some Jersey girl from the 'Burg could get under my skin and turn my life upside down in so many tremendous ways."

"Carlos…"

"Stephanie, I love you. I just wanted you to know that in case this moron over here made another mistake." I saw a pen fly across the screen before I heard Joey tell Carols where he could shove that pen.

"Carlos, why would you do this to me now? Why not before you left?"

Ha said nothing for almost five minutes, then put his head down, purposely not looking at me. He knew that I had him there. I knew he had no other reason.

"I don't want you to tell me you love me for any reason other than you realizing it on your own. So right now, you don't love me. You love the fact that you have someone who loves _you, _and no one else." I looked anywhere but at him. "I'll talk to you whenever you come online again. Bye, Carlos. I love you."

"Wait! How come you get to say it, but I can't?"

"Because I knew I loved you when I woke up every morning and noticed you weren't beside me in my bed. I would wonder if I was actually going to see you that day or if you were going into the wind for some reason unknown to me and I wouldn't see you for three months or more. You would be on my mind constantly." Before he could say anything else, I turned around and walked out the door. I heard him calling my name, but I didn't heed to it.

As I made my way to the elevator, I passed by Tank and told him to go see Carlos.

"Everything alright, Steph?"

"Yeah, everything is fine. Everything is fine." I turned away from Tank and finished heading on up to the apartment to take a nap before going to the mall.

_Shit!_

I completely forgot that I was just invited to the wedding and I have no information. No time, no place, no nothing.

_That's ok, because one of the guys will know, since most of them are going._

When the elevator stopped on the seventh floor, I ran for the stairway and made my way back to the fifth floor to look for one of the other attendees. When I turned around to head to the conference rooms, Lester came around the corner, spotting me.

"Hey, Beautiful. What are you doing?"

"Are you going to the wedding tomorrow?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I need to know where and when so I don't show up right in the middle of the ceremony and piss everyone off."

As Lester rattled off the time and date, I saw Ella coming out of the elevator carrying a bag across her arms, scanning the floor for something.

"Hey Ella, do you need help with finding something?"

"Actually, no, because I just found her." I didn't understand what she meant, but when she came closer, I noticed that the bag she was carrying was one of those covers you get when you purchase a dress.

"I have a package for a Ms. Plum. Courtesy of Ricardo Manoso." She handed the bag over to me and then threw me a wink. Meaning this was something I was going to enjoy.

As I turned to lead Lester into the breakroom, I heard Tank call my name.

"Bomber, what's that you got there?"

"I don't even know yet. Ella came by to drop it off for me. All I know is that Ric sent it for me." As I hooked the hanger on the handle of the cabinet, I took a step back to control the confusion I was feeling. Before I could take a step forward, my cell phone began to vibrate, signaling a call was coming in. Without looking at the caller id, I flipped open the phone and gave a curt hello.

"Have you gotten my package yet?" I knew from the voice across the line that it was Ric.

"Actually, yes. I was just getting ready to open it when you called."

"Well, open it while you are still on the phone with me. I want to hear your reaction." I didn't really understand what he meant by 'hearing my reaction', but when I unzipped the dress covering, there was no sound coming from me.

"That's what I thought you would say. I will see you tomorrow night. I'm sure you already know all the information. Have a nice evening, Stephanie." I heard the phone click on the other end of the line and promptly brought the phone away from my ear, snapping it closed.

"You have got to be kidding me," I said as I pulled the dress completely out of the dress covering.

I heard Tank let out a low whistle and walk up behind me.

"Steph, if you weren't the boss man's woman, I would so go after you at this wedding."

"He's right, Beautiful. The dress looks good on the hanger. Just think about what it will look like when it is on you instead."

I had no words to describe what I thought about the dress. I would have some serious thanking to do when I saw Ric tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

**Ok so just to let everyone know as to why I haven't updated in forever… I joined the service. I am now a United States Marine and I absolutely love it. I've been busy getting situated in my new home and training so now I'm back, a completely new person and hopefully you all will still like it. If any of you have questions jus inbox me and I'll answer. Now let's see how this story goes and if yall still love me lol.**

_Previously:_

_"You have got to be kidding me," I said as I pulled the dress completely out of the dress covering._

_I heard Tank let out a low whistle and walk up behind me._

_"Steph, if you weren't the boss man's woman, I would so go after you at this wedding."_

_"He's right, Beautiful. The dress looks good on the hanger. Just think about what it will look like when it is on you instead."_

_I had no words to describe what I thought about the dress. I would have some serious thanking to do when I saw Ric tomorrow._

The next morning I did my normal workout routine minus Ricardo since he wasn't here, oh well. While I was running, though, I had time to reflect on everything that happened yesterday between me and Carlos. How can you just tell someone you love them thousands of miles away and not have them question it? After all the fucked up situations Carlos and I have been in; the crazies, the blowups, the fires… the near death experiences, he couldn't come to this realization sooner? It takes him to be away from me and almost blown up to see that he loves me? I honestly don't see how that's possible… if you do, please let me know so I'm not acting like an ass.

When I finished running I walked by the office to talk to Tank about tonight. Knowing him, he would let me wander around to the last minute and not tell me what time the wedding is. I knocked on the door before I opened it and knew I came at the wrong time.

"Tank, what's wrong?"

"Steph, you might want to sit down…"

The minute he said those few words, I realized that it was about Carlos. Before I could say anything, the rest of the guys came into the office, confused looks on each of their faces.

"Aye bro, what's going on? You called all of us in on an emergency page… what's up?"

Tank stood up and sighed. You could obviously tell something was wrong in order for it to look like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

He took a deep breath before he started, "I got some bad news from Boss man's command… he's uh, he went missing. They went out to do a little bit of recon and when they went to gather up at a rendezvous point, he never showed. They searched for him till nightfall and they haven't found or heard from him."

Tank was looking directly at me while he spoke and knew that it would hit me the hardest. I slowly pushed myself up to say something, but nothing left past my lips. I walked past him and the other guys, but felt a hand grab on to my elbow. I snatched it out of their grasp and turned around.

"I'm going to start getting ready for the wedding… Tank, will you send me text saying what time the wedding is?"

"Sure thing Bomber… Do you want any of the guys to come upstairs with you or no?"

"No I'm good big guy, I'm just going to shower, do my hair and get dressed, and I don't need a babysitter for all that."

"You know that's not what I meant."

"True, but it was said more for me than anyone else." I smiled; fake as it was, as I walked away and to the elevator.

On the ride up to seven, I thought back to all the times Carlos left on these long missions. I knew he would come back banged up, bruised but not broken, but did this missing thing happen often?

The elevator doors opened and I saw Ella standing by the door, waiting and handling a cart behind her.

"Hi Ella, do you need something out of the apartment?"

"Oh no, I was just waiting on you. I'm here to help you get ready for tonight."

I looked closer at Ella and realized how much this woman really means to this company, this big, crazy ass dysfunctional family. And I began to wonder if anyone ever showed her the appreciation she deserved. If not, well, then I was about to be the first.

I walked away from the elevator, straight into Ella, and wrapped her tight in my arms. I could tell she wasn't expecting it because she stiffened in my arms.

"Thank you so much Ella, for everything you do, for everyone in this building. You are so loved by each and every one of us here." When I finished talking, I felt her arms slowly wrap around my waist and heard a sniffle come from my shoulder. I squeezed her harder and felt her body shake as she laughed.

When I pulled away, Ella was wiping away at her eyes and had the biggest smile on her face.

"Oh Stephanie, you know you're the first person to actually give me a hug besides my husband. Come; let's get you all done up for this wedding."

I let her usher me into the apartment, and knew I was in for a treat with Ella helping me get ready. Maybe this is the distraction I need from all the upset with Carlos going missing.

By the time Ella had finished with everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING, four hours had passed and it was almost time to leave. All I had to do now was actually put on the stunning dress Ric bought for me.

"Stephanie, where is the dress?" Ella asked.

I replied, "It should be in the back of Carlos' closet, behind all of my clothes."

I walked around the apartment and wandered over to the picture I had knocked over a couple of months back.

It was a picture of me, but I wasn't even looking at the camera. I noticed I was in Carlos' bedroom, but I was lying down, looking off to the side. I knew he was on top of me, but I don't see how I didn't notice him sneak a picture of me. With the fact that it was a candid photo, I actually looked kind of pretty, but the point is that I still don't understand why he has it up. Out of all the pictures he could have, he picks one of me.

As I turned around, I saw Ella come out of the room with the garment bag over her arms. I walked over to her and waited for her to unzip the plastic.

And I waited. And I waited some more.

"Ella, why won't you unzip the bag?"

"You need to put on the lingerie and the shoes first. I don't want you to wrinkle the dress when you have to bend over to snap the buckle for your shoes."

"Oh ok… wait, what lingerie?"

She set the garment bag down and reached behind the couch for a box I never noticed. When she tossed it to me, apparently it meant it was the lingerie. I opened the box and nearly dropped it. The lingerie inside was just breathtaking. The corset was nothing but silk, the thong was a mockery of the real thing (there was nothing there!) and the garters were the prettiest lace. And it was now mine to wear, for someone who's not here at the moment, but gone and missing in some god forsaken country. After that, what little bit of joy I had disappeared.

"Stephanie, what's wrong? I was for sure you would like this set, if not I can return it and get you another one. I'm sure we can find something nice for you to wear underneath your dress for tonight."

"Ella! Its ok, I love the lingerie, I was just thinking of something else and it just… I don't know, I'm sorry though."

I walked over to the bathroom with the lingerie and the shoes that were given to me to put on. As I was getting dressed, I thought about all the times I would help Carlos with skips and get the chance to get all pretty. I never realized that I always got ready with him in mind. Like, "Will he like this dress? Are these shoes good enough for him? If we do end of in bed again, will this new set make me look sexy to him?" And here I am, doing it again. Wondering if when and yes I do say when, he comes home, he would like this if I ever wore it for him?

I took a deep breath and look at myself in the mirror. Wow, I really have changed. My legs looked thinner, more tone than they were. My stomach now lay flat with just the tiniest define of abs, but me toning up made my hips look bigger and my backside more firm. My arms looked long and graceful, my chest fuller, filling out the corset more than what I used to be able to.

I looked sexy without even really trying, and it's all thanks to me wanting to actually change my life. And of course Ella because I never would have thought to buy any of this, just to go to a wedding.

I walked out to the living room and over to the garment bag. I heard Ella gasp and looked back to see her standing with her hands over her mouth.

"Oh my goodness, Stephanie… You look absolutely beautiful. You don't even have the dress on and you're just… breathtaking. Carlos will never know what he has right under his nose." She finished her statement with a shake of her head and grabbed the garment bag.

As she pulled it out, I thought to myself on how much these people care for me. Ric actually went out to buy me dress, just to get me to come to this wedding. The guys never judge me on the decisions I make. Carlos was always there for me, despite my fuck ups.

This is my family.

Ella handed me the dress and I began to put it on. The dress was made of the softest cotton but it was stretchy, it molded to my body like a second skin. The one shoulder was elegant, and made my neck look longer. Tank was right, the dress did look even prettier on me than on the hanger.

I turned to Ella and I saw tears on her cheeks.

"Oh, Ella, don't cry, please. If you keep this up you're going to make me cry and mess up all your hard work on this wretched face of mine." I laughed at the end of the statement and got a smile out of her.

She wiped at her cheeks and took a deep, shaky breath. "Stephanie, you don't even begin to realize how stunning you look right now." Before she could finish her statement, there was a knock on the door and I knew it was time to go, the boys were here.

I grabbed my clutch and walked over to the door. When I opened it, I was taken aback by all the fine male species standing in front of me in the finest tuxedos.

"Wow guys, y'all look absolutely great. Ready to go?"

When I got no response I looked back at Ella and noticed she was snickering at the scene in the doorway.

"Steph, is that really you?" Tank asked.

"For real though, we knew you'd be dropping some weight, toning up and whatnot, but we didn't think it would be in a sexy way. Jesus Christ…" Bobby walked away, readjusting himself on the way to the elevator.

Cal just shook his head and walked over to Bobby and Hal followed with a big smile on his face, mumbling something about Carlos getting it when he comes home.

"Bomber… can I have hot, sweet, passionate sex with you till Ranger comes home? I promise to be a better lover than him, I just want to get be-" Lester was stopped short by a shoe hitting him smack dab in his forehead.

I whirled around to see Ella with her hands on her hips and stern look on her face. "Sé que usted no habla de conseguir con la mujer de su hermano. Sabe muy bien que fueron significados para estar juntos."

"Sí tía," Lester walked over and joined Cal, Bobby and Hal at the elevator, head hung low and slouched over.

"Thank you Ella," Tank said over my shoulder.

"You're welcome, Pierre. Now you need to get going, the limo should already be downstairs waiting for you. Have fun and I'll see you there, ok?"

He replied with a smile, "Yes tía."

Tank stuck his arm out and I knew it was an invitation for him to escort me. I giggled, linked my arm through his and walked over to the elevator.

"You really do look beautiful right now Steph, and Carlos is one lucky bastard to have you as his." I turned to Tank and saw the sincerity, but with the mention of Carlos, tonight didn't seem so fun anymore.

Tank turned to face me after we had gotten in the elevator and grabbed the sides of my face, "They're going to find him and bring him home. We're going to keep getting updates from them as often as we can, but there's only do so much from this end. Just hope and pray he comes back. I know boss man doesn't want you to worry over him like this, so just for tonight, try not to worry. Think positively, that he's alive and just walking through whatever jungle he's in this time," he kissed my forehead and turned to stare at the double doors.

When the doors opened up to the garage, I walked out and over to the waiting limo, thinking to myself, "That man better be found soon, or I'm going to fly anywhere around this world and start looking myself."

**It's relatively short, I know. But I had to get something out for you guys. Please enjoy. Review, love it or hate it, criticize it, tear it apart! Just tell me how you honestly feel about it.**


	7. Chapter 7

** Hahahaha I liked everyone's theory on how they think Ranger is going to be at the wedding. Good guess, but no. Anyways, I'm still trying to keep up with the updates, I'll try my hardest not to fall this far back again. I still love all of you guys, keep faith in me and enjoy the new chapter :)**

Previously:

"You really do look beautiful right now Steph and Carlos is one lucky bastard to have you as his." I turned to Tank and saw the sincerity, but with the mention of Carlos, tonight didn't seem so fun anymore.

Tank turned to face me after we had gotten in the elevator and grabbed the sides of my face, "They're going to find him and bring him home. We're going to keep getting updates from them as often as we can, but there's only do so much from this end. Just hope and pray he comes back. I know boss man doesn't want you to worry over him like this, so just for tonight, try not to worry. Think positively, that he's alive and just walking through whatever jungle he's in this time," he kissed my forehead and turned to stare at the double doors.

When the doors opened up to the garage, I walked out and over to the waiting limo, thinking to myself, "That man better be found soon, or I'm going to fly anywhere around this world and start looking myself."

Some say you can feel butterflies in your stomach when you're nervous, or it feels like you're on a rollercoaster, or even like someone's got their fist clenched on your insides. I, personally, never believed them, but on the drive to the wedding… man! I seriously thought I was going to puke up everything I had eaten in the last three days just from being so nervous.

When we pulled up to the chapel, I looked to Tank, "I hope you know, if anything goes wrong at this wedding, I'm blaming you and telling Carlos this was your bright idea."

He smiled, "No problem hun, if it gets Ranger to rethink shit, I'm down."

I shook my head and watched as the rest of the guys pilled out of the limo. When Tank reached back to grab my hand and help me out, I realized, "Oh shit, I'm about to meet the man I love's family… without him."

Depressing, is it not?

As I took the time to actually look at the chapel, Ricardo and a woman walked up to us, smiles on their faces. Everyone was happily greeted, hugs all around, kisses on every cheek. When it came time for me, I noticed the woman Ricardo came with no longer had that radiant smile on her face.

"Stephanie! I'm so glad you decided to come, and the dress looks beautiful on you. Don't you think so, Maria?" Ricardo looked to the woman next to him and noticed the way she was looking at me.

"Well, Stephanie, this is Maria, my wife. Maria, this is Stephanie, Carlos' _amante secreto_, the one I was telling you about this morning." As he gave his introductions, Maria gave me an appraisal look, up and down, probably internally thorough too, from the disapproval look she was giving me.

Maria finally took her eyes off of me and turned to Ricardo, "No me importa lo que digan o piensen Ricardo, que nunca volverá a ser lo suficientemente bueno para mi hijo."

"Maria!" Ricardo looked at his wife with such disdain I knew I shouldn't have come.

"Look, obviously I know when I'm not wanted, and honestly it's ok. Maria, I didn't mean to come here and upset you, so if you would like me to go, I can." I gave her my most sincere look, despite the fact on the inside, I was falling apart.

"Yes, please do. I know my son wouldn't ever go for someone like you. I really don't know why you came." She turned on her heels and walked back inside the church. I closed my eyes and turned to the boys.

"Can one of y'all please call the limo back? I'm going back to Haywood, call me and tell me how the wedding goes an-"

"No!" Ricardo raised his voice and everyone jumped. I'm guessing that's something that doesn't happen very often.

"Ric, look, if Maria wants me go-" He raised his hand to silence me.

"Stephanie Manoso, you will stay at this wedding. You'll will meet your future in laws and become a part of this family. My wife does not and will not run this family, I do. So no, none of them will call for the limo and you will not go back to Haywood. Is that understood?"

I looked down at my shoes and paused long enough to truly grasp the fact that Ricardo was definitely serious; serious enough to go against his wife.

"Stephanie, do you hear me?" He grabbed my arms and made me look him in the eyes.

"Yes, I do hear you. I'll stay… but if the slightest confrontation pops off between Maria and me, I'm gone."

"I'm telling you right now, Maria won't even glance at you the rest of the night when I'm done talking to her." I nodded my head and began walking inside the church with everyone else.

As soon as we walked in, I heard raised voice speaking in a rapid Spanish and knew Maria was probably telling someone in the family about what a horrible person I was. We turned the corner and saw three other women, including the bride, surrounding Maria.

Maria whirled around to face me, "Didn't I tell you to leave?"

"Maria, I told her she was staying, and that's final." Ricardo stared down at Maria and waited for her to respond. When she didn't, he turned and left for her to follow. After she left, it left the three women, the boys and me all by ourselves. Lester was the first to open his mouth.

"Well now that that is over and done with, ladies, it's nice to see you again. I missed all three of you little brats."

"Well if you came and saw us more often, there wouldn't be a problem. And I know you know where we all live, you big jerk."

The one speaking was probably the oldest of the three, she looked about as old as my sister. She was short, curves like nobody's business and a face like the angels throughout the church.

"Steph," Lester said, "This is Cecilia, Carlos' first younger sister." She stuck her hand out and gripped my hand in a firm grab, declaring she was glad to meet me. I was definitely impressed, and actually somewhat comfortable.

He moved to the next female across from me and Cecilia, "Bomber, this is Liliana, younger sister number three and baby of the family."

"Lester, I don't know why you insist on letting everyone how much younger than everyone else I am, we get it," she rolled her eyes and turned to face me, "It's nice to meet you Stephanie."

"Nice to meet you too," she nodded her head and that was the end of it. Last one to be introduced… the bride

"Gabriella, most beautiful bride on the planet, this is Stephanie. The one your mom was talkin' smack on." She turned around and my breath stopped. I had never seen a woman so damn beautiful. This woman had the natural beauty most women try to achieve with makeup. She had no makeup on!

She hit Lester in the chest and turned to speak to me, "Stephanie, it's so nice to finally meet the girl who took over my brother. I don't particularly care for my mother's first impressions, since they're usually wrong, so don't worry about us three having a problem with you." She ended her statement with an astonishing smile and walked away.

"Stephanie?" Liliana sounded nervous or worried and I looked at her questioningly.

"You can just call me Steph," I smiled.

She beamed at me and said, "Cool, do you want to sit next to me during the wedding?"

I paused and looked at Tank and Lester, knowing surely my eyes were pleading for help. Lester just laughed and walked away, shaking his head and saying something about Carlos. Tank shrugged his shoulders, "I wouldn't know what to say either, hun. Do what feels right." And he turned and left me to flounder for a decision..

"Liliana, how old are you really.?"

"I'm 22, why?"

"Ok, so you should be mature enough to know why your mother doesn't like me, right." I looked to her and waited for a response.

"Yes, this is why I want you to sit up with me and my family during the wedding. My mother isn't always right when it comes to her kids' relationships. If it makes you uncomfortable, then you don't have to, but since Carlos isn't here, I would like for you to sit in his place."

With Liliana being so young, I didn't expect her to be so grown and knowledgeable to grown up, adult… shit.

I thought about it for a few more minutes and said, "If you're willing to deal with your mother's fire, then yes, I will. But if you feel like you don't want to deal with it then just let me know and I won't sit with you."

Liliana looked and smiled, knowing exactly what she was getting herself into. She walked up to me, linking her arm in mine and walking us to our seats. I noticed that Tank and the guys were in the pew behind the family, but only on Carlos' side.

When we finally got to our seats, Ricardo and Maria stood to make more room for us. I obviously got a dirty look from Maria, but I ignored it, since I got the constant warm welcoming from Ric.

As we waited Tank leaned forward, "You ok Bomber?"

"Yea, Liliana and I talked so it's cool, I hope." I smiled at the end to hide that fact that I was practically dying on the inside, just waiting for Maria to blow up on me. Then I realized that if she was anything like my mother, she would be polite, wait till after the wedding, _then _scream, yell and act a fool.

On cue, the wedding march began and everyone stood. Gabriella came through the doors and Ric walked to meet her. He kissed her on both cheeks and stuck his arm out for her to walk with.

As she walked down the aisle, you could see her and her father talking, about what… probably father daughter things. Weddings are the only time a girl's father will be the biggest sap.

When they reached the groom, he took her from Ric and shook his hand. He leaned to kiss his daughter one more time before he took his seat. The priest began his speech and I tuned into my own show, picturing me and Carlos up there next. With the way things were going, we most likely won't ever end up together, but a girl can dream.

They each said their vows, written on their own, and ended the ceremony with I do. As they walked down the aisle, traditional rice was thrown, while everyone watched them stroll, grins on their faces, ear to ear.

As everyone met up at the reception hall, I got the chance to really talk to Liliana and Cecilia. Cecilia wasn't very much of a talker, but what she did have to say left a profound impression. Liliana was just the regular chatter box, but it wasn't about just anything, at least it was about things that kept it interesting.

"So Steph, how come you and my brother have been together for so long but we've never met you?" Cecilia gave me the look saying she knew what was really going on between me and Carlos.

"Well, technically… um, your brother and I aren't actually 'together'."

"Then you're just sleeping together?" Liliana asked the question and sipped on the beer she had in her hand, eyebrow raised in a question.

"Liliana! That is definitely none of your business, that's between your older brother and her. But it would be nice to know how to refer to you…" Cecilia said.

"Well," I cleared my throat and looked around, hoping to find one of the guys to come and save me. When I saw no one, I gave up on the lost cause and just spilled my guts.

"Well, I've been in love with your brother for almost three years now. Um, he didn't really know how much I loved him until recently. I don't know how much I can tell you about where he is or what he's doing, but something went wrong, and when I got the chance to talk to him, he told me he loved me too.

"My whole issue is, if he loves me the way he says he does, why did it take him three years and something going wrong to make him realize it? And when I told him, I wouldn't accept it, he got hurt but then I told him why. I've known since three years ago when I would wake up wanting to roll over and see him, not empty sheets. Or better yet, when he got shot, I dropped everything and ran to him."

"The point being, your brother, _mijas__, _is an idiot, and doesn't know what he has standing in front of him." All three of us spun around to see Ricardo standing behind us with Maria, a look of astonishment on her face.

"Stephanie, is that how you really and truly feel about my son?" Maria asked.

"Yes, it is. I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be with your son for the rest of my life."

Maria looked to Ricardo and let go of his arm. She walked up and stood right in front of me, staring. Out of nowhere, she wrapped her arms tight around me and whispered, "Thank you."

I looked to Ricardo and the girls to see if this was to be expected of their mother and when Ricardo nodded his head yes, I raised my arms to embrace her back.

As we let go of each other, Lester came out to let everyone know the reception was about to start.

Throughout the ceremony, beginning to end, all I thought about was Carlos. Wondering if they'd found him, wondering if he was ok, wondering if he knew I still loved him.

On the limo ride back to Haywood, I told myself I wouldn't let this get me down or stressed. Tank walked me up to the seventh floor and told me, "Steph, you know we all love you? And no matter what happens, you'll always have a family here, right?"

"Yes, Tank I know. What are you saying this for?"

"No reason, I just wanted to make sure you knew what we were all about, who you are and what you mean to every single one of us."

"Awe, Tank. I love you big guy."

"Love you too, Stephanie."

A week's gone by and still no word on Carlos. Every day I go and bug each and every single one of the guys, asking if they knew something, anything. I made it my daily task to accomplish my agenda on getting some kind of information.

"Stephanie!"

I turned and saw Lester, pale faced and breathing fast. "Lester…"

"Joey's looking for you… Stephanie."

I took off at a dead sprint to the conference room. As I turned the corner, I saw everyone piled in the small room, heads hung low and faces forlorn.

I walked up to the screen, looking Joey straight into his big blue eyes. Pretty, but not the eyes I wanted.

"Joey, you better be giving me good news, or I swear…" My voice broke towards the end and I looked away from the screen.

"Stephanie, you know I love you. You're like my little sister, which is why I asked to be the person to tell you."

I looked around the room, noticing no one was talking, or even looking in my general direction.

"Stephanie, we found Ranger… he's dead."


	8. Chapter 8

**Hehe I knew you guys wouldn't like the cliffy I left for you so I did it anyways :) anyways, thank you for bearing with me on the se slow updates, but I promise I'm writing as much and as fast as I can each night after work. And make sure y'all are completely and totally honest in your reviews, don't hold back!**

_ Previously:_

_A week's gone by and still no word on Carlos. Every day I go and bug each and every single one of the guys, asking if they knew something, anything. I made it my daily task to accomplish my agenda on getting some kind of information._

_ "Stephanie!"_

_ I turned and saw Lester, pale faced and breathing fast. "Lester…"_

_ "Joey's looking for you… Stephanie."_

_ I took off at a dead sprint to the conference room. As I turned the corner, I saw everyone piled in the small room, heads hung low and faces forlorn._

_ I walked up to the screen, looking Joey straight into his big blue eyes. Pretty, but not the eyes I wanted._

_ "Joey, you better be giving me good news, or I swear…" My voice broke towards the end and I looked away from the screen._

_ "Stephanie, you know I love you. You're like my little sister, which is why I asked to be the person to tell you."_

_ I looked around the room, noticing no one was talking, or even looking in my general direction._

_ "Stephanie, we found Ranger… he's dead."_

"Writing a eulogy for someone special is, uh, quite difficult. The most often dished out advice is to just 'be yourself' and express your emotions in your own personal way. However, there are times when we can't find the right words to really describe our feelings. The lack of appropriate words in these kinds of speeches results in a eulogy that is boring or monotonous. Hence why I didn't write one." I looked around to see people leaning over to each other and whispering things I couldn't hear.

It's been a month now since we got the news from Joey. Today is his funeral; the day we finally get to lay him to rest, where he belongs. So here we are, blood and company family, gathered around his grave site, me standing behind the podium giving the eulogy he asked me to give. With the job that Carlos has, apparently he's had his funeral planned out for years. We didn't have to do anything except wait for his… body to be flown back to the states. After that we just sat back and watched as everything unfolded on itself.

"For those of you who don't know, my name is Stephanie. I've been working for Carlos for the last three years. You may think I'm not 'qualified' to give his eulogy, but what you don't know and or realize is that I've been in love with this man since the first day I met him. Honestly, now that he's gone, I don't know what I'm going to do without him.

"No matter who he was to anyone here, you know he made a significant difference in your life. His presence… will be sorely missed. No one will ever understand the astounding distinctness he brought into everyone's hearts. And…" I turned my head, coughing to clear my throat, trying my hardest not lose it completely in front of everyone. "I'm sorry, I can't finish this."

I grabbed my papers and walked away from the podium, looking down to avoid all eye contact with anyone.

"Stephanie!" I heard a voice call my name but I didn't turn around. I didn't need anybody to know how weak I truly was.

When I cut through all the cars along the graveyard, I bumped into Joey, red eyed and hunched in on himself.

"Stephanie, where are you going?" He looked puzzled.

"I can't do it Joey. I can't just give his eulogy like it's nothing. I'm putting the love of my life in the ground today!"

"Honey, I'm so sorry. But you know this is what he wanted. He wanted his last words said through you. That's why he had you give his eulogy, that's why you're reading his last will." Joey's eyes were pleading with me to understand what he was saying, what he was trying to get through to me.

"Joey, I just…" my voice hiccupped and stopped in my throat. After that, I lost it all. My wall, holding back all the tears, all the screams, hits and kicks, broken. I felt myself hit the side of the car, and I slid down to the gravel road.

Through my turmoil and complete breakdown, I never noticed when Joey picked me up, or carried me to the limo, or have me driven back to Haywood. I finally came to when I noticed I was lying in bed.

I sat up and saw Tank sleeping in the chair next to the window, facing me. I turned to the clock and saw it was 2:30 in the morning. I pushed back the covers and slowly rolled out the bed, trying to be sneaky going to the kitchen.

I was turning the knob when I heard, "Where you goin?"

I turned around to see Tank leaning on his knees, fully awake and staring me down. I didn't bother answering him and just walked out of the room.

"Stephanie! Will you please tell me where you're going?"

"Does it really fucking matter? All you really care about is me not hurting myself. Don't bother denying it because I know that's the only reason you stayed tonight." I faced away from him and walked towards the door.

"What the hell makes you think that's why I stayed?"

"Why else would you be wearing your belt?" I motioned towards the utility belt he was wearing holding his cuffs, gun holster (empty), and another holster for the mag light. "Plus I saw the fuckin sedative sitting on the dresser, I'm not stupid Tank."

"We're just worried about you, Bomber. After you ran out on the funeral, you basically went catatonic. We didn't know what to do with you and we didn't know how you were reacting to…" he paused and shrugged his shoulders.

"Say it Tank."

"You know what-"

"Say it!"

He backed a step away from me and looked to the ground. "We didn't know how you were taking Carlos death. There, are you happy?"

I walked up to stand right in front of him, toe to toe. I looked him in the eye and said, "No I'm not fucking happy. And all of you can go and kiss the darkest part of my ass. I'm not suicidal, I'm not crazy, so back the fuck off and let me grieve Carlos' by myself. Nobody fuckin feels like I do."

I opened the door and waited for him to walk through. When he didn't move, I motioned with my arm for him to leave. He didn't care; he just stood straighter and crossed his arms over his broad chest.

"God dammit, Tank, just fuckin leave."

"No, Stephanie."

"Why the fuck not? Can I not have privacy in this fuckin building?"

"Because this is what Ranger asked me to do, ok? It's my job to look out for you for the next couple of months while this shit blows over. I know it's going to be hard, trust me. I'm hurting just as bad as you are, but I'm pushing through it for him. So _you _can get over yourself and fuckin realize you're not alone and you have a god damn family here to help take care of you, whatever you may possibly fuckin need. And tell me or ask me one more time to leave, I promise you I'll make this a living fuckin nightmare for you."

I stared after him as he sat down on the couch, elbows on his knees and rubbing his hands up and down his face. I heard him sigh and saw his shoulders starting to shake. I slowly walked to the couch and sat next to him, tentatively putting my arms around him.

When I came to the conclusion that I wasn't the only hurting from Carlos being gone, I thought back to the past few days and how the guys have been acting.

Yeah, Tank was hovering more, but I think it's because he just wanted someone to breakdown with, someone who won't judge him. Lester isn't making his snide side comments, or trying to irritate me in any way. Instead he's been cooped up in his room; I haven't seen him except at the funeral. Bobby hasn't left the medical floor, and Cal and Hal haven't really left the screen room minus to piss, eat and sleep.

Talk about me being catatonic, none of these people were going to be the same with Carlos dead.

On that last note, I let it all go. I wrapped my arms around Tank, tighter than I thought I could ever do. We sat there, crying, drowning in each other's pain. He sat back and pulled me I his lap. He put his head over mine, smoothed my hair back and whispered, "Someway, somehow, through all the pain and turmoil, we're going to get through this, together."

Last thing I remembered before I fell asleep was Tank carrying me back to the room, clinging to his neck for dear life, praying that all of this was just a horrible nightmare.

_Six months later…_

You know, sitting behind this desk isn't as cracked up as I thought it was. Every time I would come in here to talk to him, I always used to say to myself, "That man can make anything look sexy." Now I'm sitting on the opposite and I'm thinking, "Man, this shit sucks," but it's what he wanted.

So, yeah, it's been six months since Carlos died. Despite the fact that it gets a little easier every day, I still don't know what to do with myself.

I'm sure you're wondering what's happened since his funeral; well here's the lowdown.

After his burial, we had his last will and testament to read. That's when shit went nuts. So, apparently he left everything to everyone in his company, minus the select few things that went to his family.

Tank got the majority of his cars, except his Porsche and his Aston Martin, which went to me. Lester got his weapons and Bobby got promoted to Tank's position. Which _should_ mean Tank got Carlos' position in owning this company; no. Instead, the company got split in half with Tank and _me_. Tank handles all the money and the clients accounts, I handle all the clients and personnel; hence why I'm behind Carlos' desk.

So, now do I not only have huge ass shoes to fill, but I have someone who I absolutely cannot let down.

_Knock, knock_

"Come in," I replied as I came back to earth from out of my own thoughts.

The door opened and Tank popped his head in, "Hey boss, I got something, or should I say someone, for you to see."

"Tank didn't I tell you to stop calling me boss?" I looked at him over the frame of my glasses, eyebrow arched.

"And didn't I tell you it's not gonna stop? I do it for my own reasons, so you can get over it. Now do you want to see this guy or not?"

"Sure, why not? What is he here for?" I looked through my desk calendar and didn't see any appointments, so he must be a walk-in.

"He's here looking for a job. I figured since you also run the personnel side of this place, you should be the one to check him out."

"Ok, send him in here, but I want you to stay as well, see if you notice anything wrong with him." He nodded his head and walked back out of the office.

I stood and started straightening everything around the office. I thought back to when Carlos first hired me and what his standards were. I knew then that this was my 'make it or break it' moment. I took into account all the guys who already work here, with their work ethics, their backgrounds, everything. Hopefully this guy came up to par.

There was another knock on my door and it opened without my reply.

"Boss, he's here. Are you ready?"

"Send him in." I fixed the suit I was wearing and took of my glasses.

Tank opened the door wider and he stepped to the side. The man who stepped forward was not who I was expecting.

"Boss, this is Viktor Lozada. Viktor, this is Stephanie Plum, the owner of this company." Viktor took a step forward and stuck his hand out for me to shake. I grabbed his hand and immediately knew something was wrong. I looked him in the eyes and saw familiarity, but I've never seen this guy a day in my life.

Something about this man screamed intimacy. I know I haven't seen him before today, but his eyes…

"Do I know you from somewhere?" I saw I still had his hand in mine and snatched it back. He raised his eyebrow in question to the abrupt finish to our handshake.

"No, I don't think I've ever seen you in person before. I know I've definitely heard of and seen you in the papers." He finished with a smile and I lost my breath.

200 watt smile.

No one's ever made me lose my breath like that except Carlos. And this man was definitely not him.

Viktor was six foot and 200 lbs. Full tattoo sleeves and some on his neck. He had short hair, but shaggy enough to look like he just rolled out of bed. He had a scar running through his eyebrow and his eye, marring the perfect mocha latte skin, almost the same shade as Carlos only a tad darker. He had a southern accent, as if he was from the south; yeah he was Hispanic like Carlos, but that doesn't surprise me. There are plenty of Hispanic cultures in the south.

All around, this man was so sexy… but I still had my heart set on Carlos, regardless that he wasn't here anymore.

"Um, Stephanie, you ok?" Tank had taken a step forward and was looking at me like I had lost my mind.

"Yeah, I'm good," I took a deep breath and turned my attention to Viktor. "Ok, I'm going to ask you a few questions. Just know that whatever you say can be checked, so if you lie to me… well, you just won't have a job. How does that sound?" He nodded his head in assent and we started.

"Where are you from?" I watched as he clasped his hands in front of him, loosely, but still tight enough to show he was nervous. About what, I didn't know. "There's no reason to be nervous, Viktor."

"What makes you think I'm nervous?"

"When you put your hands together in front of you, you clasped them tight enough to let me know you weren't comfortable, but loose enough to show you were willing to answer the question. Now whether or not you were going to do it honestly, that's another story."

He looked between me and Tank, then back to the ground.

"Was I right or was I wrong?"

"No, you were right, spot on actually. It's just I thought I was going to meet Mr. Manoso, instead I got you and it's probably worse." He laughed nervously and looked to the ground again.

"Actually, you're getting it a lot easier without Carlos being here. Doesn't mean I won't do anything different than what he did when he ran his company."

He nodded his head and turned to see Tank and back to me.

"Why don't you take a seat and be comfortable. I know what it's like to be on the other side of this desk." I gave him an encouraging smile and waved to the seat. "Tank you wanna sit too?"

"No, I'm good back here." He straightened his back and crossed his arms over his brawny chest.

"So, where were we? Oh yeah, I asked where you were from."

He nodded his head, "I was originally born in Cuba, but I was raised in Georgia."

"When did you move to the states?"

"I was eight, I'm sure you're asking because of the southern drawl, huh?"

"Yeah, you don't hear it too often on the east coast, unless you're military."

"I am. Eight years in the Marine Corps, I was infantry."

"Oh wow. Do you have any family near, or are you alone?"

"No, I've got some family, but they're back in Georgia. I'm not married or anything so no kids and shit. All I've got with me is a dog."

I nodded my head, acknowledging to him that I was listening. "How fresh are those tattoos?"

"Excuse me?" He crossed his arms over his chest, as if to block the ink.

"I can tell that you just recently got most of those tattoos on your arms. What made you want to get those?" I looked closer on his arms and noticed all the pin up girls. "Got a thing for the 50's?"

"Oh, are you talking about all the girls? Well, it's the same woman, the closest rendition to the woman I've been in love with for the past few years." I saw the pain flicker in his eyes then disappear as fast as it came through. I looked closer but I couldn't really see the faces, but she looked gorgeous from where I was sitting. "I normally wear nothing but long sleeves, so if my tattoos are going to be an issue, you'll have nothing to worry about."

"Why aren't you together with her now?"

He took in a slow deep breath, "She passed away unexpectedly. She got into a hit and run car accident."

"Oh, Viktor, I'm so sorry. If it's any consolation, I know exactly how you feel."

"Thank you, I really appreciate it. But it is what it is. If it was her time to go, there's nothing I can do to stop it from happening." I could tell he's told himself that every day since she's been gone; his little mantra for him to help get over her death.

I looked at Tank and he just shrugged his shoulders, "Ok, so you said you were prior service. What made you join the military and what made you get out of the military?"

"I joined the Marine corps because I got in trouble. Possession of a lot of cocaine can get you a lot of years in jail," he laughed, but it sounded tired, "But they gave me an ultimatum and that's what I chose. I got out because I wanted something different and I heard Carlos, well, now you, ran one of the best businesses out there for people like me."

"And that's why you chose this company? To help you transition from military to civilian?"

"Basically, plus I heard the pay was great." He flashed the 200 watt smile again and I thought back to Carlos; how that smile made me do things I would never dream of.

Tank had taken a step forward to stand next to Viktor, "A lot of this job deals with nothing but military, plus more than seventy five percent of this company's personnel is prior service. If you came here to try and get away from that, you're in the wrong place dude."

He glanced between me and Tank, and finally settled on me, "Well, this is what I want. If there's any training for me to do, I'll do it. I'm willing to do anything I have to in order to get this job."

"Let me and Tank sit here and talk for a little bit. Wait outside and I'll have him bring you back in once we've made a decision." Viktor nodded his head and walked through the door.

Before I could say anything, Tank had started in, "I don't like him, at all."

"What, why not? I haven't seen or felt anything wrong with him." I saw Tank still looking at the door Viktor had just walked through.

"Well, for one, he's creepy. Did you see the way he was looking at you? He looked at you like Carlos looked at you every day. He claims to have the 'love of his life' tattooed on him, yet he's disrespecting her by comin on to you. I. Don't. Like. Him. Plain and fucking simple."

By the time he was finished, Tank was pacing the length of the office, me just standing there and watching.

"Tank, calm down, it is not that bad. If I didn't feel him being creepy, then you are obviously over exaggerating. What was the second point you wanted to make?"

"We checked his background and everything came back clear, but a chunk of the last year and a half is missing."

"How much of the last year?"

"Thirteen months."

I shook my head and thought back to the thirteen months of my life, how it all went to hell in a hand basket. I lost Carlos, and I didn't know what to do with myself.

"Well, keep trying on getting into the last year and half of him. Till then, he's on a pre-trial for this job. Yes, he'll be getting a full paycheck so don't ask me if we can just not pay him," I heard him say damn under his breath and laughed a little bit. "put him working with Lester and we'll rotate from there."

"Fine, but I'm not going to like it, and when he gets to work with me, I'm going to make him miserable. Just so you know when he comes in here to bitch and complain and shit." He walked and opened the door, calling for Viktor to come in. when he came through the door, tank turned to stand behind him making motions that he was going to kill him. I tried to hold back a laugh, but I epically failed.

"Tank, you know I can tell what you're doing, right?"

Tank dropped his arms and turned to walk out the door, grumbling something about eyes in the back of his head.

"Well, Viktor, here's what's going to happen. You're going to be on a pre-trial for the job. Just to see how you would work with the other guys; see how you take to the working environment. Do you have any questions?"

"No, I think I'm good. When do I start?"

"Now, you'll start working with Lester, if I can find him."

"Tall, Puerto Rican dude outside?" he pointed through the door and sure enough, there he was, unfortunately talking to Tank. Most likely about how Viktor was such a bad guy.

"Come here Lester, you too Tank." I heard him say shit and just shook my head.

"Lester, you've already met Viktor?"

"Yea, we were talking out in the hallway while he was waiting for you to finish up in here. He's pretty cool." Tank swung around and popped him in the back of the head, "Ow! Jesus, did just see what happened, Stephanie? I wanna press charges; coworker brutality!"

"Both of you stop; bunch of kids sometimes, I swear. Lester, you're going to be working with Viktor for a couple of days. Are you ok with that?"

"Yeah, sure, no problem. I'll show him the ropes, want me to go ahead and show him around Trenton too?"

"No, I'll do that, thank you though. Does that sound good to you, Viktor?"

I looked to see him and Tank staring at each other, but it looked Like Tank had lost all hate.

"Hey, you two, what's going on?"

"Nothing Boss. You know I love you, right?" I made a confused face and told him yes.

"Then I wouldn't bother with the pre-trial. Just go ahead and give him the job." He looked back to Viktor and stuck his hand out. "I'm sorry for acting a prick." They let go of each other and Tank left the room.

"Well, that settles it then, I guess. Viktor you got a job here. You'll still be rotating partners for a little bit, but eventually you'll get a set position. And I'm going to show you around Trenton tonight, so you're not completely lost in this city. How does that sound?"

"Sounds perfect. Thank you Miss Plum, I really do appreciate it. This means a lot to me."

"Call me Stephanie, and I know exactly how you feel, don't worry. Lester, help him get his bags up here and into one of the open rooms. Let him get situated and then take him out with you for today, ok?"

"Sure thing boss. Let's go new guy, we got shit to do." I smiled as they walked through the door, thinking to myself about how Carlos would have handled it.

Viktor turned around one more time before he closed the door, "Thanks again, Stephanie."

As he said my name the last time, it sent shivers down my spine. Right then I knew I was in trouble with hiring this guy.


End file.
